The Trevi Collection

Air Date: 1/24/75
Writer: Rudolph Borchert
Director: Don Weis
Actors: 
Lara Parker as Madelaine / Nina Foch as Madame Trevi / Bernie Kopell as Doctor / Richard Bakalyn as First Hood / Marvin Miller as the Lecturer / Priscilla Morrill as Griselda / Henry Brandon as coven leader / George Chandler as Model Agency Manager / Douglas Fowley as Superintendent / Beverly Gill as Melody Sedgwick / Peter Leeds as Photographer / Henry Slate as Second Hood / Chuck Waters as Mickey Patchek / Dennis McCarthy as the figure / Diane Quick as Ariel / Nick Borgani as man at lecture /

Memorable Line:
Kolchak: "Whata'ya mean you don't wanna to talk about it? What kind of thing is that to say to a reporter..."

Story:
Kolchak tries to discover who's the witch behind the murders in the modeling world.

Review:
I didn’t care for this one at first, but it has grown on me over the years and has become a favorite. I think some of the broad, theatrical elements are what hung me up initially, but now I rather get a kick out of that. Trevi is a fun, biting send-up on the fashion industry. And beyond that, there’s real tension and scares to be had.

For instance: Mannequins. They’re creepy just standing there - but when they start moving around, as they do here, it’s spine-tingling.  Though I admit that the effect is not as effective as what was seen in the old Twilight Zone episode, “The After Hours” (the line between who's human and who's the inanimate object is very obvious here), when enacted side by side with the satire, it’s forgivable.

However, that’s not the case for everything. The performance by Lara Parker (who played Angelique, in Dark Shadows) starts off fine. But during the witch’s coven scene she voraciously chews the scenery like it was made of chocolate. And her body spasms and maniacal laughter was embarrassing to behold. I know she’s supposed to be losing it, but zowie, she was waaay over the top.

Humor wise? The line about a "nominal fee" was priceless - and as always, the core actors are what make any episode worth watching. Simon Oakland gets in a couple of great lines and nearly blows his top in concern over Carl’s well being (There's a small subplot about gangsters threatening Kolchak, which leads to an actual exposé. Nice to know that they do break stories now and again)

Overall the pacing was tight, it was mysterious, tense -- the scene with the speeding car barreling after Carl worked because it really moved, Kolchak looked like he was in danger. Nina Foch did some nice acting, going from snooty and unlikable to sympathetic. And the ending (despite the silly Mannequin pile-on) was one of the show's better ones. Everything was wrapped up in a satisfying manner.

Of Note: It was neat to see Marvin Miller (The voice of Robbie the Robot in Forbidden Planet) and Henry Brandon (The Searches; Rocky Jones, Space Ranger) in bit parts.

Grade: A-

Primal Scream

Air Date: 1/17/75
Writer: Bill S. Ballinger, David Chase
Director: Robert Scheerer
Actors: 
John Marley as Captain Maurice Molnar / Jamie Farr as Jack Burton / Pat Harrington Jr. as Thomas J. Kitzmiller / Katherine Woodville as Dr. Helen Lynch / Barbara Luddy as Woman / Gary Baxley as Humanoid / Jeannie Bell as Rosette Mason / Al Checco as Nils / Regis Cordic as Dr. Peel / Sandra Gould as the Landlady / Vince Howard as Policeman / Byron Morrow as Dr. Cowan / Paul Picerni as Humane Society Man / Barbara Rhoades as Kitzmiller's Secretary / Chuck Waters as William Pratt / Arnold Williams as Barney / C. Lindsay Workman as Dr. Fisk / Paul Baxley as Dr. Julius Copenik / Craig R. Baxley as Robert Gurney

Memorable Line:
Kolchak: "...That wasn't just J. Fred Muggs out there dressed in a tutu a-and drooling for the public and playing on a unicycle! Th-that was some creature!"

Story:
Cells from the Antarctic, grow into ape-men who prowl the Chicago streets at night.

Review:
Primal has an interesting premise. I liked the science, the idea of an arctic cave dweller coming to life in our modern age. I also enjoyed the scenes in the newsroom. While a bit out of character, it was nice seeing Tony get charged up over the story, and fun to see him with stars in his eyes as the enormity of it all gives him hope for a better, brighter life and career. (This time Kolchak has evidence and Vincenzo's gonna fight right alongside him to see that it gets published.)

It has humor: Carl is pugnacious, biting, and sarcastic when confronted with big business spin-doctors - and hilariously clever in his attempts to uncover the truth (I loved watching him wheel himself near a Hospital room in order to eavesdrop on a top-secret meeting).

The suspenseful ending is another that involves a dark and gloomy tunnel. Carl gradually lights his way with flares, revealing something new with each toss (from ape hair to a body). When he looks back and forth trying to spot the creature, which suddenly appears out of the blue, I jumped out of my skin.

Unfortunately, the episode is also plagued by dry exposition. There are long wordy scenes that make it a bit of a slog and that’s too bad. Because while the idea is there, the character exchanges are there, and there are great scenes… they just don’t coalesce into a great episode as a whole.

Grade: C+

Mr. R.I.N.G.

Air Date: 1/10/75
Writer: L. Ford Neale, John Huff
Director: Gene Levitt
Actors: 
Bert Freed as Captain Akins / Julie Adams as Mrs. Avery Walker / Henry Beckman as Senator Duncan 'LaBeau' Stephens / Don 'Red' Barry as Tyrell Security Guard / Corinne Camacho as Dr. Leslie Dwyer / Robert Easton as Bernard Carmichael / Myron Healey as Colonel Wright / Maidie Norman as the Librarian, Miss Byrett / Bruce Powers as Peters / Craig Baxley as Mr. Ring / Vince Howard as Policeman / Read Morgan as Man / Gail Bonney as Barham

Memorable Line:
Kolchak: "Good -- Gosh!" - A flabbergasted Carl upon seeing RING crash through a door.

Story:
There's a Government coverup in the wake of a robot who fights for life and a sense of humanity.

Review:
I'm a sucker for robots, especially ones who have grown to a point where it desires for 'life'. Perhaps it's the age-old existential question of what it is to be human which draws me. Whatever the reason, these stories, how ever-familiar, never fail to intrigue me.

So, plot-wise, R.I.N.G. has a familiar tone to it. And it isn't the scariest or most action-packed episode of the series. What it is is an interesting detective story and drama. It might move a little too slow for horror, sci-fi enthusiasts - but the script has many highlights (nice idea to have a drugged Kolchak trying to recall the details of the story. Plus the question of ethics Carl puts to Ring at the end was sharp) and the acting solid (though Robert Easton from the Mortuary was odd, almost mechanical in his stance and delivery). Craig Baxley as Ring had me feeling empathy for his/its plight and that drooping face he made for himself out of putty was downright creepy.

While there are moments of humor as always, it's not a laugh riot: Carl teasing a guy who's been trailing him was funny, as was his reaction when he first saw the robot break through a door. Primarily though this aimed for the heart and cerebellum, it made me think, and when R.I.N.G. utters his last words  (Calling Dr. Dwyer “mama”), it moved me.

All told - the episode won’t thrill everyone, but I liked this tragic tale and the robot’s an added bonus.

Grade: B+

Horror in the Heights

Air Date: 12/20/74
Writer: Jimmy Sangster
Director: Michael Caffey
Actors: 
Phil Silvers as Harry Starman / Ned Glass as Joe / Benny Rubin as Julius "Buck" Fineman / Murray Matheson as Lane Merriott / Barry Gordon as Barry the Waiter / Abraham Sofaer as the Rakshasa Hunter / John Bleifer as Charlie / Jim Goodwin as Frank Rivas / Robert Karnes as Officer Thomas / Shelly Novack as York / Eric Server as Officer Boxman / Paul Sorenson as Officer Prodman / Naomi Stevens as Mrs. Miriam Goldstein / Herb Vigran as Sal Goldstein / Leoda Richards Police Officer's mother / Duke Fishman bald passerby / Peter Paul Eastman as antique customer 

Memorable Line:
Kolchak: "Son, I've seen more dead bodies than you've had TV dinners"

Story:
A flesh-eating Hindu demon called a rakshasa, feasts on elderly folks who live in the 'Heights'.

Review:
Though there are moments of humor (Ned Glass returns as Joe and recognizes Carl - The scenes with the antique dealer) this episode is one of the darkest of the series and hearkens back in edgy tone to the first Night Stalker movie.

I wonder if something like could have been made today. The Nazi symbols (though explained) would probably make most TV executives blanch. The storyline is not a comfortable or easy one, and even Carl seems a little more somber. The monster (who takes the form of those you trust most) is said to return in times of great decadence, yet it's not the decadent ones who meet with grisly death, but rather innocent older Jews. In an interesting touch - salvation from this threat comes from someone the community views with suspicion; a Hindu who has dedicated his life to hunting the rakshasa.

In the newsroom scenes, I liked the rapport between Emily and Kolchak. I like that we actually got to see Carl file a printable article and to hear he and Tony converse calmly as colleagues (and how Vincenzo looks out for his reporter at the police station). Course, we do get at least one heated exchange between the two.... though there's a slight twist as it's Carl yelling after a departing Tony (usually it's the editor shouting for Carl to "Get back here!")

Written by Hammer horror alumnus, Jimmy Sangster (The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958)), Horror in the Heights is sharply scripted and nicely paced. Though there a few brain farts (Miss Emily fills in as the advice columnist when it has been stated in earlier episodes that this was her regular gig at the paper), overall this one's a dark, frightening mix with a smart, tense ending. One of the best episodes in the series.

Grade: A+

The Energy Eater

Air Date: 12/13/74
Writer: Arthur Rowe, Rudolph Borchert, Robert Earll
Director: Alexander Grasshoff
Story: Arthur Rowe
Actors: 
William Smith as Jim Elkhorn / Elaine Giftos as Nurse Janice Eisen / Robert Cornwaithe as Dr. Hartfield / Robert Yuro as Captain Webster / John Alvin as Dr. Ralph Carrie / Michael Fox as Frank Wesley / Tom Drake as Don Kibbey / Ella Edwards as the Receptionist / Bob Golden as a Policeman / Dianne Harper as the Second Girl / Joyce Jillson as Diana Lanier / John Mitchum as the Janitor / Paul Baxley as Electrocuted Worker / Melissa Green as First Girl / Barbara Graham as Laurie / Michael Strong as Walter Green

Memorable Line:
On the problems the Hospital is having...
Nurse Eisen: "They said it takes a while to get everything working"
Kolchak: "Well I feel that way myself some mornings"

Story:
A new Hospital is built atop the burial ground of Matchemonedo, an Indian "bear god" who feeds on energy and spits it out with devastating effect.

Review:
The episode starts off promising. We have the mysterious deaths of Indian construction workers on a Hospital site; at the dedication, the foundation's quiver and the walls crack. What is behind all of this and why?

Good question and I'd have liked a better answer. Oh, we learn that the Hospital was built upon the resting place of an (invisible) bear god that has come out of hibernation, but all the writers do with this slight premise is fill the hour with tedious padding. This fearsome spirit electrocutes a few unfortunate patients and we see many shots of floors and walls splitting open. They never expand on the horror or raw power that a God should possess.

On the plus - There is some real funny dialog; I'm talking 'bust a gut' humor. And Carl teams up with a couple of colorful allies - among them a Native American Shaman, delightfully played by William Smith. His Jim Elkhorn isn't your stereotypical solemn all-knowing medicine man. He's uncomfortable doing a native dance to ward off the Matchemonedo and fancies himself a lady's man. Sadly, these characters quickly fade away without a satisfying goodbye. (Was that dead woman in the lab supposed to be Nurse Eisen?)

The final confrontation was as lame as anything I've ever seen. Carl wanders around, gets his foot stuck, falls down, and falls asleep. Other than waving a fire extinguisher about, there's no big clash between these titans.

The Original Outer Limits TV series used to do some inventive things FX wise (See their energy being in "The Man With The Power"), it's a shame the same couldn't be said for 'Night Stalker', a show made over 10 years later (that drawn eye on the X-Ray wasn't enough to send shivers down my spine). In the end; a slight story, unanswered questions (why were the Native American workers the only ones targeted during construction?), a wisp of a monster whose menace and power is undercut by budgetary constraints, all left me feeling underwhelmed.

Grade - Earns points for humor: C+

The Spanish Moss Murders

Air Date: 12/6/74
Writer: Al Friedman and David Chase
Director: Gordon Hessler
Actors: 
Keenan Wynn as Captain Joe "Mad Dog" Siska / Severn Darden as Dr. Aaron Pollack / Richard Kiel as the Pelemafait / Johnny Silver as Pepe LaRue aka Morris Shapiro / Ned Glass as Joe the apt manager / Randy Boone as Jean the fiddler / Virgina Gregg as Dr. Hollenbeck / Bill Diets as first reporter / Frieda Rentie as second reporter / Brian Avery as the record producer / Rudy Diaz as Sgt. Villaverde / James LaSane as Officer Johnson / Maurice Marsac as Henri Villon / Roberta Dean as Michelle Kelly / Donald Mantooth as Paul Langois / Elisabeth Brooks as the Lab Assistant

Memorable Line:
Carl shows Tony a fuzzy picture he took of the Bogey Man...
Vincenzo: "What is that, Salvador Dali's bar mitzvah?"

Story:
A test subject in a sleep experiment dreams up a Cajun bogey man.

Review:
Now, this is the show at its best! An intriguing story idea that doesn't trip over itself with those plot holes or unanswered questions which plagued this series.

The acting is solid. Kennan Wynn plays the Police Captain this time out, and he's perfect. It's too bad that he wasn't a series regular because Siska had a nice, if sometimes explosive, rapport with Kolchak. He'd roar and get annoyed but also seemed to reasonably listen at times (Until Carl pushed it)

Also wonderful as always are the exchanges between Oakland and McGavin. Again, Kolchak gets under his boss's skin, but it seems like Tony seriously cares, and deep down likes his rumpled reporter. Their banter about a "disappearing little man" had me roaring with laughter.

The idea of a nightmare coming to life is scary enough. That it controls the dreamer (who we find out is not allowed to dream) and later, exists independently, is even more frightening. Richard Kiel was the perfect choice to play the Bogey Man. His towering size lends authenticity to a bone-chilling legend (Hey, if you build it up, you better be able to deliver. And Kiel delivers). I'm not sure why the woman at the start only looks at the Pelemafait strangely, without an exclamation of concern (perhaps a case of really bad acting?), but this was one of the episode's few hitches.

The moody end scenes in the sewer were very suspenseful. The tension was so thick even Kolchak tried to back out (and was comically prevented from doing so). Yes, Carl poking Kiel with a stick looked silly, and the cheap monster costume doesn't inspire fear when viewed with our modern high def, big-screen TVs. But those are minor quibbles. The good stuff -the smart, intense story and performances- far, far outweighs any weaknesses.

Grade: A+

Bad Medicine

Air Date: 11/29/74
Writer: L. Ford Neale, John Huff
Director: Alexander Grasshoff
Actors: 
Richard Kiel as the Diablero / Alice Ghostley as Dr. Agnes Temple / Victor Jory as Charles Rolling Thunder / Ramon Bieri as Captain Joe Baker / Marvin Kaplan as Albert Delgado / James Griffith as George M. Schwartz / Dennis McCarthy as Ballistics Man / David Lewis as Auctioneer, Malloy / Morris Buchanan as Night Watchman / Marilyn/Madilyn Clark as Hostess / Keith Walker First Reporter / Bill Deiz as Second Reporter / Alex Sharp as First Policeman, Mason / Lois January as Mrs. Rhonda June Marsky (aka Adele Saperstein) / Barbara Morrison as Mrs. Luci Lapont Addison / Riza Royce as Mrs. Charlotte Elaine Van Piet / Ernie Robinson as Chauffeur / Troy Melton as Desk Officer / Walt Davis as Second Policeman, Crawley / Arthur Wong as Auction Attendee / Richard Geary as Auction Guard / Bob Golden as Police Detective Tackwood / Paul Baxley as Cop in stairwell

Memorable Line:
Vincenzo: "If I were a cliff dweller I wouldn't be downtown Chicago. I'd be dwelling in my cliff in an adobe hut 2 stories high, which is not exactly the Hancock Tower!"

Story:
A medicine man is condemned to walk the Earth for eternity, constantly collecting a horde of jewels.

Review:
Richard Kiel stars as an evil Indian sorcerer, and it goes without saying that he takes care of the scares department with ease. Where it loses me, is why he has to kill (or stage suicides). He's able to gain control without a problem - murder is superfluous. Though he might derive pleasure from the act, Kiel doesn't relay this. In fact, Richard's sorcerer is very workman-like. To end a curse, He has a job to do, that's the primary motivation.

Despite these cloudy issues, "Bad Medicine" is clear in every other aspect. While the shape-shifting Kiel is impressive, the newsroom sequences are an equal delight. Everyone shines. Ruth McDevitt and Jack Grinnage are both wonderful here. Ruth's Miss Emily sticks up for Carl in an argument with Tony and later helps Kolchak play an elaborate con on Updyke. Poor Ron, I kind of felt sorry for the guy here. He's not a bad sort but Carl plays him like a fiddle. And another casting gem was seeing Barbara Morrison play one of the Diablero's victims. Fans of MST3K will remember her as Polly Prattles in the movie, "Project Moonbase".

Simon Oakland is his usual brilliant self. I loved the scene where he's camped out all night at the office waiting for his errant reporter to return. The script here had me tickled (Tony asks Carl if he ever reads the paper, to which Kolchak replies with a quick "No"). I can't express enough just how good McGavin and Oakland were together.

The end sequence relies on that old Kolchak luck again - I never felt he was in any real danger (at least not in the same way he was in Zombie or the later, Spanish Moss) and the solution seemed a little pat and simple. Other than these few hiccups, this is a winner.

Grade: B+